Pressure-controlling means for wringer rolls



July 31, 1928.

LC. DAVIS PRESSURE CONTROLLING mans FOR WRINGER RGLLS Filed March 31, 1927 Patented July 31, 1928.

I umrso STATES TH OMAS C. DAVIS, OF GREELEY, COLORADO.

rnnssunn-oonrnoizmno MEANS non WRINGER ROLLS.

Application filed March 31, 1927, Serial No.'179,982.

This invention relates to pressure controlling means for wringer rolls.

l/Vith my improvements, which is alsotrue as to prior arrangements, the wringer is adapted to be supportechupon the washing machine, in geared relation with the driving mechanism of the latter; but with former types of wringers the upper roll thereof is forced down, under relatively heavy pressure, towards the lower roll, by substantially sti spring means disposed'in the upper zone portion of'thewringen'which pressure may not be facilely eased-up on or instantly relieved under certain emergency conditions.

It follows, therefore, that if there is an unyielding obstruction offered to the passagev of the material between the rolls of tie Wringer which might be caused by a compact lump in the material itself or any hard substance accidentally contained therein, heavy shock or strain is imposed upon the apparatus and driving mechanism thereof, which stress would tend to impair its elliciency, if notactually disrupting or causing the breaking of parts thereof, M re -im portant still, it not infrequently happens that a portion ofthe garments or even a finger or hand of the operator becomes caught between the rolls, resulting in material injury, and such possibilities and actual occurrences are a great source of annoyance and fear to many users, because if a garment sleeve or hand of the operator became caught in the goods or between the rolls, it might not then be possible with the other hand to even have ready access to the switch control, for shutting off the power, and much less so for the manipulation of parts to relieve the pressure of the rolls. v

One of the main objects of my improvements, therefore, has been to provide for quick-acting emergency release means, for instantly relieving substantially all pressure of the rolls, which means in a certain'sens'e functions automatically, as it were, or semiautomatically under pedal control, as here inafter broadly'and specifically set'forth. Another primary object has been to provide for, at will and as desired during actual wringing operations, any degree of graduate or variable adjustment of the pressure of the rolls, by means of said pedal control, whereby thicker or thinner articles may be fed through between the rolls, under appropriately desired wringing pressurefwithout any other adjustment of parts, so that underneath faces,

the hands of the, operator may .at all necessary times be free to manipulate the articles or be otherwise employed. v

The foregoing as well as other objects and advantages, however, will be more clearly apparent as'i'ncidental to the following disclosure, so that nothing would be gained by further enlargement upon the same initially. Nit-h these general outlining remarks, therefore, reference will now be had tothe accompanying drawings, illustrating certain practical embodiments of the improvements, although susceptible to some variations without departing fromthe spirit of the invention, and in which drawings Figure is an isometric view that is partly in section and with one end standard of the wringer omitted,-to more clearly disclose the improvements, the wringer being asso ciated with a washing machine, fragmentarily illustrated, and the rolls of the wringer being substantially spaced apart, as when wringing heavy or thick articles, such as blankets,sweaters, or the like; Figure 2 is a local detail View in end elevation and looking in the direction of the arrow 2 of F igure 1; andFigure 3 is alocal transverse sectional'view taken along the line 3 of Figure 1. e

' Before actually describing themore essential features of'the improvements, and for the purpose ofmoreclearly understanding their functioning, it may not 'be amiss to first set forth the general combination of elements with whichthey are associated.

The numerals 5 and 6 designate respective casing walls ofa washing machine, with which there is associated a detachably supported power operated wringer that is mounted in geared relation with the driving mechanism of the washing machine, as is well understood. There are also shown cross-bars 7, extending laterally of the wall 6, which have registering r cesses 8, in their that function as guidew'ays for a retractive actuating bar, hereinafter referred to, and 9 indicates a retracting spring therefor, as interposed between the same and a part of thew'vashing machine. It is obvious, however, that these exact details may be substituted for by other suitable and equivalently functioning means if desired.

10 indicates one of the end standards of the wringer framework, a slnnlar end'standard at the opposite end being omitted on the drawings, which end standards may be filler, but this is not material.

would be in The end standards preferably are hollow, to provide casings or housings for certain parts. Each of them may be conveniently' formed of relatively stiff thin metal, after the fashion of rectangular-like open ended tubing, with elongated slots 13 and l t extending longitudinally of the upper and lower portions, respectively, of the inner wall thereof, leaving bearing webs or faces 15 and 16, at opposite sides of said slots, along said inner wall. i

i The end portions of the top bar 12, adjacently of the inner walls of said end standards 10, are each provided with a depending guide-head 17, which guide-heads are fixedly attached to said top bar 12 but are disposed in sliding relation with reference to the bearing faces or webs 1516 of said standards. These guide-heads may also be of hollow formation, especially if they are to house intermeshing gears customarily carried by the shafts of the wringer rolls, and one of which gear wheels is indicated at 17. At any event, each of the guide-heads provides a longitudinal slot 18, for registration with a complementary one of the upper slots 13 of the end standards 10, and they may be of channeled formation as more clearly seen at Figure 3.

19 and 20 indicate any suitable journals or bearing blocks for the shaft ends 21 and 22 of the upper and lower wringer rolls 23 and 2 1, respectively, which rolls normally approximate contact, but which are actually shown as substantially spaced apart, owing to the illustration of a relatively thick article 25 being fed through between the rolls.

The said shaft ends, inwardly of their journal supports, extend through the slots 18 and 13, as is obvious,

with all of said journals respectively housed within the hollow end standards 10, and the said upper journal elements 19 being so contained therein as to permit of their vertical play, hence a vertical play also of the upper roll 23, while the lower ournal elements 20 are mounted in stationary relation. Any suitable supporting means may be provided, within the standards 10, for the stationary mounting of the lower journal bearings 20, such as a cross-web if desired, but I have simply illustrated such supporting, means conventionally as embodying inwardly disposed lugs or projections 26. The right end of the lower shaft 22, shown broken off at Figure 3, extends through the outer wall of its end standard 10, and is associated with means.

said spring the usual reverse control arrangement, of the wringer, that is mounted in gearing relation with the driving mechanism of the washing machine, as isfully understood.

In the further carrying out of my invention, from a broader aspect, the upper roll arrangement suspends relatively stifi' spring means extending substantially below the position of the upper roll, which spring means is associated with tension regulating means therefor, preferably under pedal con- 'trol, for applying thereto a downward force to establish and increase its tension as desired, or reversely to relieve said tenion in part or in whole. Accordingly, when a downward force is imposed upon said spring ineans,the latter will become so substantially tensioned as to exert a strong downward pull on said upper roll, for supplying the normally desired working presure, but at the same time allowing for a certain degree of resilient give or yielding vertical play of said upper roll, under the control or against the tension of said spring On the other hand, as soon as the downward force on said spring means is partly or wholly relieved, the downward pull on said upper roll will be correspondingly graduated or proportionally decreased,

although the actual pressure of the upper roll, while there 18 any tension at all on the spring means, will in' a measure be determined by theactual thickness of the article passing through between the rolls. At any event, if the spring tension is wholly relieved, it follows that the downward pressure of the upper roll will likewise be simultaneously relieved, and thus provide for-the instantaneous emergency release'hereinbefore referred to. c 1

In the immediately preceding'paragraph, I have'stated perhaps the real gist'of my invention in the broadest terms, because the main principles thereof maybeembodied m various but equivalent combinations of elements. However, it is not believed-to be expedient nor desirable, as it would, serve no useful purpose, to fully set forth all such possible modifications, which are intended to be comprehended in my broader ensuing claims, and accordingly I will now describe a practical arrangement which is preferred by me at the present time.

An elongated bar spring 27, shown as a flat plate spring, extends longitudinally underneath the lower roll 24, in 'substans tially spaced relation thereto, the ends of being projected, through the slots 14;, into the hollow end standards 10, and said spring ends being mounted by hanger elements suspended from the supporting means of the upper roll .23. This may be most conveniently done, as shown, by means of closed loop yokes' on hanger links 2829 that freely encompass the lower roll journals 20, but which are securely attached to the upper roll journals 19, as conventionally illustrated by bolt heads 30. The upper ends of said hanger elements are preferably projected above said journals 19,

so that these upper ends 31 may also be securely attached to the top bar 12, and the ends of the spring bar 27 are freely supported upon the lower cross-arms 32, of the hanger elements, in a disconnected or limited sliding relation.

Means are provided to apply a downward force on the body of said bar spring 27, as desired by the operator, for causing its downward bowing to give it appropriate tension, and reversely to relieve said downw ro force and the tension of said spring, which means is preferably pedal-controlled as hereinbefore suggested. Although equivalent means, other than that actually shown, could be employed for thi purpose,'still in actual practice the following described means have been found very satisfactory.

A rocleshaft 33, extending contiguously of one side of the bar spring 27, has its ends mounted by said bearing webs of the end standards, or it. may be mounted in any other suitable way. The shaftis provided with a. presser finger or lug 34:, adapted toengage and exert a downward pressure-on the body portion of said bar spring, and a reversely disposed actuating finger or lug adapted to: be engaged from its underneath side by an operating finger or lug 36 that is projected from the upper end of a retractive vertically disposed actuating 37. The lugs 35 and 36 are disposed in entirely disconnected relation, that is to say the lug 35 i merely engaged by and rides upon the lug 36 with a cam-like action. The actuating bar 37 would of itself be retractive, action more positive and instantaneously responsive, as well as for retracting the pedal mechanism, the bar 37 is preferably made retractive by suitable resilient means, such as the normally closed coil spring 9 interposed between it and a lower part of the washing machine. The lower end of the actuating bar 37 is provided with means, preferably antifriction means such as the roller 38, riding upon a cam 39 that is carried by a pedal shaft 40 which, through the medium of integral arms 41 or otherwise,

In operation, and under ordinary'usage, the pedal 42 would be disposed relatively close to the floor, or say slightly tilted above its horizontal position, so that with one foot resting on the pedal, or even with the heel on the floor and the ball of the foot on the pedal, it will be apparent that, by varying the foot pressure, the operator may facilely regulate and control the pressure at the owing to gravitation, but to make its mounts an operating treadle base or pedal wringer rolls, without any other adjusting means, for the appropriate wringing out of thicker or thinner'articles, the operation being as follows,

I Downward pressure on swing the cam 39 upwardly, or'will tend to do so, for elevating the actuating bar- 37 against the tension" of its retracting spring 9. lVith this movement, as will be obvious, the presser lug 3e will bow the body portion of the bar spring 27-downwardly, the ends thereof being disconnectedly or freely sup ported upon the lower portions of 'the'hang' or links for a limited slidingmotion as before stated, which said downward bowing of the bar'spring will tension the latter to'a degree proportionate to the foot pressure on the pedal, whereupon-the tension of the bar spring 27 will cause a downward pull on the hanger members 28 29, securely attached to the-journals 19, for drawing the upper wringer roll 23 into closer pressing association with theJ lower one; under a relatively heavy but resiliently yielding pressure; Reversely, the easing-up. of the pressure on the pedal 42' will cor-. respondingly ease-up the pressure at the wringer rolls, and it follows that in the case of an emergency, such as heretofore referred to, a quick and entire release of foot pres.- sure on the pedal 4-2 will :result instantaneously in relieving all pressure at the wring;v er rolls. 7

If the upper ends of the hanger elements 28-29 are projected above the-journals -19 the pedal will and secured to -thetop bar 12, as actually shown and which is preferred, it will be noted that all :of these-elements, including the upper roll 23, will haveconjoint vertical play. The upperroll and said top bar-,2 therefore, will always be maintained spaced the same distance apart, thus guarding against any binding therebetween, and more importantly guarding againstthe crushing of thefingers or hand of the operator if accidentally inserted 'therebetw'een, whenthe upper roll is moved upwardly owing to the increased thickness of articles passing through between the rolls.

From all of the foregoing, it is believed that the advantages and functioning of the improvements will be clearly apparent, but although I have thus set forth the same fully, in accordance with my present preferences, it will nevertheless be understood that I do not wish to unnecessarily confine myself wall of the details exactly as disclosed, excepting as they maycome within the terms or tenor of the ensuing claims, or equivalent elements and combinations there of, or as fairly interpreted in the light of the specification if necessary.

I WVhat I do claim, as new and patentable,

1. In a wringer embodying an upper roll tension, and to relieve the downward bow thereof, upon the respective actuating and retractive movements of said lever.

2. In a wringer embodying an upper roll mounted by bearings for vertical play relatively tothe lower roll, the combination of hanger links securely attached at their up-- per port-ions to the bearings of said upper roll and freely encompassing the bearings of the lower roll, a'bar spring freely supported at its ends for limited sliding motions onthe lower vportions of said links, a pedal, and means interposed between said pedal and bar spring to exert a downward force on said spring, intermediate of its free ly'supported ends, upon downward pressure being imposed on said pedal, for placing said spring under downwardly bowed tension, and reversely relieving the tension of said spring upon the relieving of said pressure on said pedal.

3. In a wringer, the combination of hol low end standards, a vertically movable top a bar therefor and provided with depending guide-heads slidingly associated with said standards, a lower roll with the bearings thereof housed within and in stationary relation to said standards, an upper roll with the bearings thereof connected to said top bar and housed within said standards for vertical play, hangerlinks securely attached at their upper portions to the bearings of said upper roll and freely encompassing the bearings of the lower roll, a bar spring supported at its ends on the lower portions of said links, a lever, and means interposed between said lever and bar spring to respectively cause the downward bowing of the body of said spring, for-placing said spring under tension, and to relieve the downward bow thereof, upon the respective actuating and retractive movements of said lever.

4. In a wringer embodying an upper roll mounted for vertical play relatively to the lower roll, the combination of a bar spring suspended at its ends from said upper roll and extending longitudinally below said lower roll, a rock-shaft disposed contiguously of said bar spring and provided with a presser lug operative upon said spring, and

retractive lever-controlled means for actuating said IOCliSllflfb in one direction to cause the downward bowing of said spring, by

said dresser lu and thereb T lacin said spring under tension, while relieving said;

bowing and tension upon retractive move ments thereof. p 7

' 5. In a'wringer embodying an upper roll mounted for vertical play relatively to the lower roll, the combination of a bar spring suspended at its ends'from said upper roll and extending longitudinally below said lower roll, a rock shaft disposed contiguous ly of said bar spring and provided with an actuating lug at one position thereof and with a presser lug operative upon said spring, a retractive actuating bar for engaging said actuating lug to turn said rock shaft in one direction, for r down- I) ward bowing of said spring bv said presser:

6. In a wringer, the combination of hollow end standards, a vertically iiiovabletop bar therefor, a lower roll having its bearings housed within and in stationary relation to said standards, an upper roll having, its bearwithin said standards for vertical play thereing connected to said toploar and housed in, hanger links securely attached to the bearings of said-upper roll and freely encompassing the bearings of the lower roll,- a bar spring supported at its ends by said links, a rock shaft disposed contiguonsly of said spring andprovided with an actuating;

lug and also with a presser lug adapted to bear down on the body portion of said spring, a retractive actuating bar for engaging said actuating lug to turn said rock shaft in one direction, for causing the downward. bowing of said spring by said presser lug, a roller carried by the lower end of said actuating bar, and a pedal mounted on a shaft carrying a cam member, engaging said roller from underneath the latter, for positively operating said bar in its actua ing direction and controlling its retractive movements by the foot pressure of the operator.

In testimony whereof, I afiix my signature.

THOMAS J. DAVIS. 

